


Me, Myself, and Elliot

by Nightcrawler247



Series: All My Mr. Robot Stories [1]
Category: Mr. Robot (TV), Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Because of Child Elliot, Child Elliot is younger in this story then in the show, Developing Friendships, Disabled Character, Dissociative Identity Disorder, F/M, Friendship, Hacking, I love Leon so much I had to find a way for him to be in the story, Interrogation, M/M, Mature for now but rating may change, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Mental Instability, Mental Institutions, Multi, Multiple Personalities, Murder, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pet Names, Possibly Unrequited Love, Rating May Change, Roommates, Serial Killers, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Body, Sharing a Room, Tyrell Wellick Lives, Unrequited Love, Warnings May Change, Whiterose's Machine Works
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 04:41:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29620755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightcrawler247/pseuds/Nightcrawler247
Summary: Keep in mind possible Rape, violence, death and Underaged because of Elliot's history but I don't think I'll mention it in detail. Warnings will change if I do. So will rating.Not sure if will be Tyrell/Elliot but I will change tags if it does. Rating also might change later. Other future pairing are also undetermined for now. Gonna likely be more plot heavy then focus on them anyways. If not I'll just remove this note later.Whiterose Machine sends Elliot and all his alters to prodigal son. In order to find Whiterose and finally get back home they’re finally going to have to get their shit together and all work with each other instead of against one another. That includes their host. They need to do all they can to get back to everything they know. A good place to start is working as the new IT at the NYPD.At least Tyrell here and ready to help where he can so they can all get back home.
Relationships: Elliot Alderson & Tyrell Wellick
Series: All My Mr. Robot Stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2216382
Kudos: 7





	1. It's a Whole New World Out There

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another story I put out to just my inspiration going. To my Only Time Will Tell readers don’t worry that stories next. I’m still focusing on it mostly until it’s done. I just really wanted to put this out. Also I really felt like these two fandoms need way more crossovers. There's just too much potential.

The first thing that he registered when he woke up was the soft and now familiar beeping of a heart monitor at his side. His eyes lids open slowly trying to adjust to the bright hospital lights. He heard the sound of someone’s soft gasp as he started moving ever so slightly trying to get his baring.

He watched as a women dressed as a nurse beside him ran over to the open door of the room and called out to someone. He couldn’t really register what she was saying the sedatives slowing his brain function a little. He tried to sit up but quickly feel back getting the attention of the nurse again who came over and placed her hands gently on his shoulder saying something about not rushing up. He wasn’t really listening to her.

“Easy kiddo.” The familiar voice was the first thing that finally gave him something to focus on. He looked over to his right and saw Mr. Robot leaning against the wall.

“No, need to rush up just yet. We’re in the hospital, no danger here.” He said reassuringly. Elliot nodded at him subtly. He looked back to his left to see a doctor now before him.

“Can you hear me Sir? Can you tell me your name?” He said flashing a small light in both of his eyes.

“…. Elliot… Elliot Alderson” He said the name sounding wrong now that he knew it wasn’t his own.

The revelation of not being Elliot and just another alter was still weighing on him a bit. Not as much as it could though. A part of him always knew he wasn’t Elliot after all. It also helped that he actually did care for Elliot. When he finally accepted and remembered who he really was he also remembered why he did this all to begin with. It was for Elliot. It was because he loved Elliot so much that he wanted to make this garbage world a place worthy of him. He didn’t want him to have to just live in this cesspool of misery, pollution, and human filth.

That desire for a new world hasn’t changed. Not for him or Mr. Robot. The only thing that changed is that he knows his mission and he knows that Elliot is happy as he is now until the real world was ready for him.

“Sir? CAN YOU HEAR ME?” The doctor said again enunciating more.

Mastermind drew his attention to him again and started for a moment before finally nodding to the man. Receiving a smile in return.

“Can you answer my previous question?” He asked and Mastermind looked to Mr. Robot.

“He asked how we ended up in the alley way with burn wounds.” Mr. Robot clarified.

Mastermind looked back at the man and shook his head.

“No, I don’t know what happen to me.” He said deciding it probably wasn’t smart to say he was in a Dark Army caused explosion. One that was likely all over the news by now. He briefly wondered himself how they’d ended up in an alleyway.

“Can ask where I am?”

“You’re in a hospital in New York City Mr. Alderson.” The doctor answered.

Mastermind nodded feeling assured. The doctor took it as a good sign that Elliot recognized where he is.

“Is there anyone we can contact for you sir?” the nurse spoke up. Mastermind thought for a while and glanced at Mr. Robot making sure he was still there before answering.

“Yeah, I’d like to call my sister. Can I have my phone please?” He asked.

The nurse nodded with a kind smile and went off to get his stuff. Once she was gone the doctor started checking his vitals while he and Mr. Robot also looked over the damage.

Their legs seemed to be fine for the most part other than the long scratches that looked like road rash on them. The same can be said for his left arm. His right on the other hand was bandaged fulling and likely was covered in burns from the explosion he remembered. It did happen on that side. He caught a look of himself in the mirror and saw his face was also scratched up and covered in bruises, but nothing that would leave scars thankfully. He didn’t like the thought of having a permanent mark that would make it even easier to tell him apart from others.

“We really did a number on ourselves this time huh?” Mr. Robot said coming to sit on the side of the bed. Before he could answer another familiar voice spoke up.

“You really think making jokes is going to excuse this? Now, we have record of us being in a hospital likely near the blast sight, being in this body is going to be hell seeing as we can’t take any really opioid pain meds, and to top it all off we still don’t know what happen with Whiterose’s machine.”

Mastermind looked up to see the likeliness of his, their(?) Elliot’s(?), mother standing where Mr. Robot was before with Little Elliot next to her. Mastermind and the other’s have taken to calling her Prosecutor. Seeing as she was not their mother, the same was Mr. Robot was not their father, but she didn’t have a name. So, they call her by her role instead. The child version on them also didn’t have a name so they’d taken to calling him Little Elliot seeing as calling him ‘The Abused’ seemed kind of messed up.

Mr. Robot rolled his eyes at her.

“Will you just take the win? Whiterose is dead and with her likely her entire organization. We can worry about everything else after we’re out the hospital.” Mr. Robot said.

“… What about Elliot?” Little Elliot said getting everyone’s attention. They all turned to Mastermind seeing as he was still the one keeping up the paradise he made for Elliot. Mastermind turned to Mr. Robot.

“Let’s worry about that after we get everything figured out. Besides he shouldn’t have to go through the pain of those injuries and the withdrawal that’s gonna hit us the moment those Pain meds are out your system.” He said the others nodded in agreement.

“At least turn on the news so we can see what they’re saying about the explosion.” Prosecutor said. Mastermind nodded and turned to the doctor seeing that he was just finishing up the check.

“Does insurance cover the cost of the television?” Mastermind asked knowing that hospitals charge for everything the possibly can and he really cant’s afford anything like that right now. He didn’t bother keeping any of the money they’d stolen from the Deus group.

“Don’t worry about that Mr. Alderson. This is a free clinic are your expenses are covered. The remote is the same as your bed control.” The doctor said and Mastermind nodded in thanks. He turned on the tv and started flipping through the news stations. Continuing talking to the doctor as he searched for anything on the explosion.

“So, when can I get out of here?” He asked his brow starting to scrunch up as no news station seemed to be covering what should be the biggest news of the century.

“You can technically leave whenever you like but we’d like to hold you for observation just to ensure that there are no complications. Burn treatment can also be very difficult to do n your own so if you don’t have anyone you think can help you with that I would suggest remaining here until the worst of it is over.” The doctor explained. Mastermind nodded along with what he said only half listening seeing as he still couldn’t find anything on the news about what happen.

“Would you bring me the release forms?” He asked giving up on the TV deciding to just get to the nearest computer and do some research after he got out of here.

The doctor frowned a bit at his request but nodded and left to get the paperwork. As he walked out the nurse from before was walking back in with a small bucket filled with their things.

“Here you’re clothing and phone. We didn’t find anything else on you. You didn’t have a wallet or anything that’s missing right?” She asked slightly concerned. They were all surprised by her seeming genuine concern for his well being. Mastermind shared a look with the others who were still all present.

“No, that’s all I had on me at the time.” He said. The nurse gave a relieved smile and nodded at him.

“Well then just push this button if you need anything else.” She said heading off once he nodded to her in understanding. They watched her go curioursly.

“She was nice.” Little Elliot said with a smile on his face. They rarely, scratch that _never_ , meet anyone who is nice purely for the sake of being nice. Not even health care professionals.

That kind of kindness scratched at the part of his brain that he really needed to learn to ignore. The others had a similar look of distrust on their faces. All but Little Elliot who huffed a disappointed sigh.

“Can’t someone just be nice?” He said to them all.

He was always the most naive of them. Always hoping for the best possibility. They didn’t fault him for that though. I was his job. To be able to take all the abuse of this world and still come out smiling. Still come out with faith in humanity. He made sure that life still felt worth living. That they never sunk so low as to just give up on this world. It was probably the most important job out of all of them.

However, that didn’t make him magically right. So, they still had to look at behavior like that with suspicion. Mastermind made a mental note to look her up once they got out of here. For now, he needed to call his sister.

He pulled out his phone and noticed immediately the no signal at the top. He looked to see if it was just bad reception in the hospital or something more. There was nothing wrong with the location his phone just wasn’t connecting to the satellite for some reason. He wondered briefly is he forgot to pay the bill or something? He checked the date and saw it was still the same day as when he talked to Whiterose. He still had plenty time until his next payment.

That was both reassuring and concerning. Clearly he hadn’t missed much in his sleep but that also meant that his phone was useless now. He tossed it to the side of the bed with a huff of annoyance.

“Give it to me. We can at least connect to the wifi and see what’s going on with the news online.” Mr. Robot said getting into it and started looking up some things.

They all waited as he looked into everything. They started to get concern as his face began to look alarmingly more and more concerned.

“What’s wrong?” Little Elliot asked leaning against the bed now trying to get a glimpse of the phone.

“This is… this isn’t right. This can’t be right.” He mumbled to himself fand now even Mastermind was starting to get worried.

“What’s it say? Did something happen to the town?” He asked afraid that their efforts hadn’t managed to save the town.

“There’s nothing.” He said still scrolling through the phone much faster now.

“They haven’t found out about the explosion yet?” Prosecutor asked smoking a cigarette that no one knows where it came from.

“It’s not just that. There’s nothing here. Nothing about five/nine. Nothing about E corp. Nothing on Tyrell or Allsafe or _anything_.” He said his fingers now moving so fast that Mastermind questioned if he could even read what he was seeing. All of them started to feel his rising panic.

“Let me see.” Mastermind said taking the phone from him and began flipping through it himself. Not only was there nothing on the events that happen in recent years but there wasn’t even a record of E corp. _existing_.

“How can this be?” Mastermind said lowly to himself. There’s no way that anyone could erase the last couple years from _all_ of the internet. Not even the dark web had anything on them.

Not just them but all the people that they could remember coming in contact with. No police record on him from his time spent in jail. Nothing on Vera and his drug organization. Nothing on Ray Heyworth, which was sure to be on record. Not even Krista was still online! He doesn’t just mean social media sites, she’d taken those down long ago, but nothing on her work or on any dating sites.

“This is impossible.” Mastermind mumbled again. He looked up from the phone when the nurse walked in caring a clip board.

“Mr. Alderson, I have your release forms. However we still can’t let you go until we know you have a ride to take you home. Did you get in contact with your sister?” She asked. They all felt a rush of sudden panic.

“About that, my phone doesn’t seem to be working do you mind if I use yours to call her?” He asks trying to keep the panic from his voice. 

“Certainly.” She said with a wide smile and handed him her phone from her pocket.

Mastermind took the phone and started dialing Darlene’s number. While he did that Mr. Robot kept their phone low and started doing research on her. Trying to see if records of her had been erased as well.

“Please pick up, please pick up, please pick up.” He started repeating to himself. The phone only rang for a second before an automated voice answered.

_ “The number you are trying to call doesn’t exist at this time.” _

Doesn’t exist? Not ‘not in serves’ but _doesn’t exist_.

“Is the call busy?” The nurse asked her face twisted in concern when she saw the obvious panic in his eyes.

“No, no, it’s… nothing. I’d just like to leave okay?” He said now feeling very panicked and overwhelmed. Going to pull out his IV.

“Sir, please calm down. Just tell me what’s wrong. We’ll figure this out together, okay?” The woman said used to panicking patients.

“You gotta calm down kid. Panicking not going to help us right now.” Mr. Robot said. Mastermind couldn’t even register what he was saying right now his heart rate was going up rapidly. He could hear the heart monitor speeding up.

The nurse was getting more concerned and was eyeing the draw that likely held some type of sedative. The only thing that didn’t stop her from going for it was that as of right now Elliot wasn’t very threatening. Mr. Robot saw that he was going to be able to calm him down.

“Okay, how about I take over for a bit while you collect yourself?” he said and the two were switching before Mastermind could even answer. All of a sudden Mr. Robot was the one in the bed now and he was passing quickly across the room. The heart monitor was slowing again but the nurse was still looking to him with concern.

“Are you okay Mr. Alderson?” She asked. Mr. Robot nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine I just need a moment to myself. Do you mind seeing if there is anyone available to take me home. Looks like my sister won’t be available.” Mr. Robot asked with a kind smile. The nurse looked hesitant to leave him alone but nodded and headed off reluctantly.

Mr. Robot smiled reassuringly to her the whole way. His smile seemed to be freaking her out even more. The sudden switch in behavior being alarming. Once she was gone the smile dropped form his face and he looked over to Mastermind who was still pacing mumbling to himself.

“Hey kid..?” He tried but he wasn’t coming close to getting his attention.

“Mastermind?” Little Elliot called meekly.

“Get it together, we don’t have time for a break down! Your supposed to be the one with the plans!” Prosecutor yelled but there was a edge to her voice that showed she was just as freaked out.

Mastermind eventually stopped pacing and sat down in the corner. His eye’s wide and arms wrapped around his legs.

“She did it. She actually did it.” He was mumbling to himself.

“What?” Mr. Robot called not registering what he was saying.

“Whiterose! She did it! She actually brought us to a new world!” He yelled finally voicing what they were all thinking.

“That’s not possible. Stop being a dumbass.” Prosecutor said still holding on to what they all knew wasn’t true.

“I’m right and you know it.” Mastermind said now alarmingly quiet in the corner. 

Mr. Robot sighed, getting up and started to get dressed. They had to start dealing with this problem some how and the first step was getting out this hospital as soon as possible. That wasn’t going to happen if they had to have a volunteer take them to a home that likely didn’t even exist now.

He had to keep it together and get them out of here. That was his job after all. To be the cool headed one. To keep everyone safe and make the quick calls when Mastermind was out of it. He looked out the window and saw that they were thankfully on the first floor. Too bad that it doesn’t open.

He grabbed their phone thinking the data on it might still be useful later. Its was also nice to have the pictures and videos encrypted on it. He didn’t have them in the actual gallery. Pictures didn’t save in his phone that way. They were deleted in twenty-four hours if he didn’t put them in the actual program of the phone first.

He had a feeling it would be a long time before they saw anyone they new in person. He knew those pictures would be needed later when the overwhelming loneliness hit them. The ones of Darlene and himself, The ones with Angela they took without permission, the selfies Leon took without permission when he swiped Elliot’s because he was bored (Photos that they kept if only to prove he could actually make friends), even the ones he had of Tyrell from his old research would be comforting in some sense.

Mr. Robot clutched tightly that phone. Realizing that is was likely the only thing he had now of his old world that proved they hadn’t imagined it all. That they weren’t just crazy. They needed that. They can’t count the number of times they questioned their reality. They couldn’t live without that physical proof.

Mr. Robot swiped some burn medical supplies and managed to get them out the hospital and streets away before anyone even noticed he wasn’t in his bed any longer. He continued walking with no place in mind. He just kept walking hoping that Mastermind would be able to pull himself together and soon so that they could at least figure out what they were going to do next.

This was a whole new world. Not a new city, or state or country or anything else that they could have worked with. Not only did they have no money, they had no identification, or any record that they even _existed_. What the hell were they supposed to do with that?

They didn’t even have the money to get the supply to get a new identity so that they could start working on this shit. Mr. Robot huffed and took his cap off rubbing his fingers through his hair. He took a calming breath. Refusing to let this overwhelm him like it had the rest. Mastermind was still just following him silently. Prosecutor was on her second pack of cigarettes and Little Elliot was no where in sight. Probably went off to hide in their mental meeting space until this was all over. That or he was playing in Elliot’s paradise world.

“It’s getting late we need to find somewhere to sleep for tonight. Look for a shelter.” Mastermind finally spoke up. Mr. Robot turned to him with a hopeful look. But he still saw the disorientation in his eyes. He still wasn’t fully here, but he was pulling it together. Hopefully he’d have a plan by tomorrow morning. For now, Mr. Robot needed to find them a place to sleep.


	2. Hello, Elliot

_‘Hello Friend. That’s how he starts these things right? Well doesn’t matter. What’s really important is that everything has gone to shit. Whiterose, that crazy bitch, actually managed to do it. Not only did she escape to another world but she dragged us along with her and now we’re trapped here with no money, no identity, no supply, not even a working fucking phone! This is such bullshit. Things we’re finally looking up. Mastermind finished his plan, we got him to understand who he really is, and we we’re finally going to wake up Elliot and get a much deserved rest until he needed us again. Instead, we’re here in this filthy shelter. Surrounded by a bunch of filthy men. I swear the guy next to us has been eyeing up our body since last night if he tries anything I’m going to stab him directly in the balls. I don’t care what Mr. Robot has to say about it!’_

Prosecutor continued to rant to Mastermind’s friend as if the rest of them couldn’t hear her. They didn’t bother her because she was complaining to Friend, she wasn’t complaining she wasn’t complaining to them. More importantly as long as she was threatening to stab the man next to them, she wasn’t _actually_ stabbing him.

Mr. Robot watch as Mastermind was the one to get them ready He looked over him and saw how his eyes were as clear as they ever are and his movements were sharp and with purpose.

He’s got a plan.

Finally, he’s back. Mr. Robot has gotten really use to having someone to depend on. With Mastermind on his side, it was no longer damage control they could be proactive. Make things better instead of just enduring them. In a way Mastermind being born took a weight off Mr. Robot’s shoulders.

Mr. Robot and Prosecutor walked along side him as they left the shelter. Little Elliot walking close to Prosecutor. He didn’t like being left out just because he was small. So, since the other decided they’d do things together from now on, he wanted to be include in that.

“So, what’s the plan?” Mr. Robot asked.

“We can’t get anywhere without a computer, so let’s go find one.” He said pulling and hoodie up and stuffing his hands in his pocket. Heading off with a look of determination. His contagious confidence leaving smug looks on the other’s faces.

.

.

.

Mastermind kept his head down and tried to look casual as he walked into the building in front of him. When they first entered they looked around at the large expanse of books.

“A library?” Little Elliot said curiously running up to the first shelf he saw and looking over the books.

“What the hell are we doing in a library?” Prosecutor asked a disdainful look on her face.

Mastermind ignored them both and headed over to the back the library where a bunch of computers could be seen. Lined up for public use.

“Public computers, smart.” Mr. Robot complimented.

Prosecutor rolled her eyes but had a slight smile on her face. She had to be at least a little proud. They were technically composed of the same person so when one of them made a smart move all of them made a smart move.

Mastermind sat down at the computer furthest to the wall with the screen most naturally covered. He’d be here for a while and he didn’t want to risk someone walking behind him and seeing what he was doing. He looked at the screen of the computer pulled up to the login asking for his library card number.

It was simple to bypass. He didn’t want there to be record of him ever coming to this library in case something went wrong and someone tried to trace where everything was coming from.

First things first he made himself a citizen and got a birth certificate.

It was almost alarmingly easy. This world didn’t seem to have the same levels of cyber security as his own. Not even on the government level.

“Well it makes sense. From as far as we can tell this world has never experienced a cyber attack even close to the same level as five/nine. They have no reason to think that they need to advance their overall systems. As far as they know no one has ever gotten this far.” Mr. Robot reasoned.

That made a lot of sense actually. After Five/Nine even the most basic of cyber protection got a serious upgrade. Even before that because of all the previous attacks Allsafe had to fend off cyber protection had been slowly getting stronger. This was a world that apparently never had to do that.

Didn’t that kinda make this place perfect for them?

He could probably do a whole lot more on this computer then he could have previously in his own world. With that thought in mind Mastermind started moving across the keyboard in rapid speed.

“What are doing?” Mr. Robot asked seeing his sudden epiphany in action.

Mastermind continued typing as he answered him.

“If security is so lax that I can make an identity this easy I may be able to also get us started in life as well.” He said Mr. Robot didn’t fully understand until he saw he was hacking into the local bank system. A feet that would have required they actually be on one of the banks inner serves to do in their world. Mr. Robot grew a wide grin and slapped a hand on Mastermind shoulders.

“You really did it this time kid!” He said excitedly. A smile tugged on Mastermind’s face as he started setting up an account for himself.

“Now we just need some money to fill that account.” Prosecutor said casually.

“Way ahead of you.” Mr. Robot said pushing Mastermind over once he was done and getting to work.

“Getting us some starter cash should be easy enough on this lax system.”

They looked on at the screen as he got to work. Mastermind couldn’t figure out what he was going to do so he spoke up.

“What are you doing exactly?” He asked looking over his shoulders.

“Let’s just say that for every account with a balance over 100,000 is going to ‘misplace’ twenty-five cents in our account. He may not sound like much but it adds up quick.” He said with a smug smile that Prosecutor was now sharing. Mastermind frowned at them both.

“So, your stealing?” He said.

“Let just call it a loan. Well only use what we need for now and put the rest back once we have everything we need and a stable job. I imagine will be getting one. This new mission of ours doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a quick job.” He said and Mastermind nodded in acceptance.

“Wuss.” Prosecutor huffed at both of them. What was so wrong with keeping just twenty-five cents? Not like they’re going to miss it.

They paid her no mind and got back to work. Once they had a substantial amount in their account Mastermind took the keyboard back.

“Guess we should find a place to stay now, huh?” He said casually. He was still working on his social skills. What better way to practice talking more then with yourself?

“All I know is I’m not spending another night in one of those disgusting shelter.” Prosecutor said leaning back on the chair she was in.

“Can we move somewhere with a pool?” Little Elliot asked finally speaking up now that he knew what was going on.

“Sorry, little man, can’t promise that. We should stick to somewhere like before. A place on the outskirts of Broadway like back home should work.” Mr. Robot said. Mastermind was just about to search that before he frown a bit.

“What’s wrong?” Mr. Robot asked.

“… If Whiterose is here and we go after her the first place she’s going to check is around our old place. We don’t know what kind of resources she was able to bring to this world with her so we should assume the worst. She may not have the network system in this world like before but that doesn’t mean she isn’t building one as we speak. She should move somewhere less likely for us.” He explained.

“Like the busier parts city?” Little Elliot asked.

None of them liked the more crowed areas of the city. They preferred areas people liked to avoid. It was easier to understand people and those places. They blended well there. They didn’t have to talk to anyone if they didn’t want to or worry about getting touched when they don’t want to or get odd looks from people for how they dress or act. The ‘nicer’ side of the was actually a whole hell of a lot worse for them.

“…Yeah.” Mastermind said and they all showed signs of open discomfort on their faces. There were few things they all really shared in come. The things that were truly at their core are what really connect them. Things like this.

Mr. Robot gave a sigh of understanding and reluctance.

“Well than what are you waiting for? Find us a place in New York City.” He said and Mastermind nodded. Doing his best to find a place that was at least on the less busy streets. A little like their own home.

They looked for the cheapest place they could knowing that a place New York City was going to still be ridiculously high no matter what. They’d need to get a good job soon.

With that thought in mind they started building some credentials. They’d need a good resume to get something to pay for they’re soon to be expenses. Finding Whiterose would take some serious equipment. Equipment that had taken them years to buy in their last world.

“We could always still more if we need to.” Prosecutor said. Mastermind gave her a disapproving look. She rolled her eyes.

“We’d put it back later.” She said.

“…Or we could kill two birds with one stone.” Mr. Robot said.

“How?” Little Elliot asked trying to follow the conversation.

“What if we get a job at the local police station? It may not be much, but it would get us easy access to a lot of equipment that we just don’t have right now. It will be well paying enough to get a place to stay and well also be able to have access to things going on in the underground that a civilian wouldn’t.” He explained.

“It’s not exactly the best job we could get.” Prosecutor said thinking about how out of the loop they all easily kept the FBI. She doubted that the police here could even touch their capabilities. Especially with their outdated systems.

“It’s the best we’ve got on short notice.” Mastermind said. Already started working on their the background information and trail they’d need to leave for a job like that.

They spent hours after that just ensuring that had some kind of history. Trying to recreate their old life digital trail from scratch. It would make sure they didn’t get caught lying about their past later. Not that they talked much to begin with, but they would be working with police officers. Didn’t hurt to just be careful.

“Do you think it would be better to be an IT consultant rather than working for them as an IT?” Mastermind asked getting their attention before he started filling out the application now that they had the proper background set up.

“If we were a consultant our schedule would be more flexible and we could turn down cases we don’t have time for. Once we get on Whiterose’s tail things are going to start moving very quickly and get busy real fast.” He said. Mr. Robot hummed in thought for a second before shaking his head.

“No, a consultant won’t have the same kind of access as an actual IT. It’s already limited to begin with we really should make it even hard to get information. Once we get to the point where it’s too busy for a consistent job well just quit and then go for the consultant job instead. Besides you need a really good reputation for those types of jobs. Well have that by the time we need it, if we actually work there first.” He said and Mastermind nodded along with his logic. Filling out the application like before.

Once he was done he check up on the status of the apartment they put in offer in for. They’d made sure to make it seem like no one else wants the place and send emails from the other applicants accounts saying they wanted to cancel their offer. That sudden drop in demand would surely make the Agent quick to sell.

Sure enough that was an offer for him to come in and sign all the paperwork. The agent didn’t even want to bother with a character review. They must have done a real number on their clientele from the place.

“With that we should be in a place by the end of the week. Hopefully well have a job by the end of the next.” Mastermind said smiling.

“Until then let’s stay at a hotel. We’ve got the money for it and I swear if you even suggest a shelter, I’m going to slam your head into that keyboard.” Prosecutor said seriously. She really must have hated that shelter.

“Guess we go find a place to sleep now?” Mr. Robot said.

Before they left they reported their wallet stolen and with it all the paper documents they’d need to get by. Driver’s license, birth certificate, insurance cards, debit and credit cards. Everything would be sent to a P.O box they’d set up online. They also set up a phone plan and temporarily had it connected to their current phone until they got a new one.

They didn’t want to have to risk having to wipe this phone as it was their only tie to their world, so they needed a couple new disposable ones. Until they got them, they’d just need to be careful with this one and only use it got legit stuff.

As they walked to the nearest hotel, they’d made reservations for digitally, it really was too easy to work this world system, Mastermind started to notice a discomfort going through his still very damaged body. They pain was starting to set in and with it the withdrawal. He noticed he was starting to sweat. He rubbed his face with his sleave and tried to at least look like he wasn’t in the early stages of withdrawal. Reservation or not their no way a hotel would let in an obvious junkie.

“Maybe… we should head downtown first?” Mr. Robot offered with a sympathetic look.

“No, I don’t want to be like before.” Mastermind shot down his idea easily.

“Besides we don’t need to.” Little Elliot said. They all turned to him briefly.

“Don’t know about that.” Mastermind said honestly.

“No honest, I already got what we need.” Little Elliot said. This time they looked down at him a little more curiously. He walked along them moving his legs twice as fast just to keep up. Looking down and focusing on the ground so he didn’t trip at his fast speed.

“What do you mean kid?” Mr. Robot asked.

Little Elliot stopped then to reach into his large pockets. Unable to do so and walk at the same time. The others stopped with him and watched as he pulled several pill bottles out, two at a time.

“Where’d you get that?” Prosecutor said taking a couple form him.

“At the hospital. I didn’t know which you would need, so I just grabbed one of everything I saw.” He said handing them over for them to look at.

Sure, enough in all the collection of pills the kid had was exactly what he needed. They’d also not have to worry about going to the hospital for medicine for a while.

They smiled down at him proudly. Mr. Robot gave him a pat on the head.

“Good job kid.” Mastermind said nudging him in the shoulder a bit with a wide smile. Taking one of the pills he needed for his withdrawal.

Prosecutor for once didn’t hit or insult him. Which was pretty much a compliment from her, so he beamed happily at all of them. Finally feeling useful un this awful situation they’re in.

With that they headed off to the hotel. It was easy enough to check in without having to go through too many hoops. They just explained they got robbed didn’t have ID but they’d sent a picture of Elliot to make sure the hotel knew what he looked like.

Once they got up to the room Mastermind demanded privacy so that he could at least shower in peace. Once he got out, he made a mental note to buy clothes tomorrow as well. For tonight he’d just have to sleep in his underwear. Once he was dressed the others came back and they all took a seat either on the bed or a chair in the room.

Now, that everything was good for today there’s still just one more thing they all need to do before they head to bed.

Mastermind looked over at everyone. A serious expression was on all their faces and they were tense. Mastermind took a deep breath before closing his eyes in concentration. E stayed that way until they all heard a soft voice speak.

“What’s going on?”

They all looked over to the previously only empty and saw Elliot, their host, looking back at them confused and nervous. They all looked at each other waiting for someone to speak up.

“Seriously, what’s going on? Why am I here? Why does he look like me?” Elliot said his eyes now wide in alarm.

_‘Did they kidnap me?’_

“No Elliot we didn’t kidnap you.” Prosecutor said for once her voice calm and kind.

He was the only person she ever showed kindness to afterall. When Elliot had made her, he had wanted someone in his Mother’s likeness on his side. He had always wanted the anger and rage and cruelty his real Mother showed him to be directed on someone else in his defense rather than for it to be used against him. Prosecutor was that for him. She was like his, their, own personal torture. Though when she lacked someone to use her gifts on, she tended to reflect them on the other alters. More specifically Little Elliot.

His eyes got even wider when she answered his unspoken question. He lifted up from the chair and started walking back against the wall as far from them as he could get.

“How’d you know what I was thinking?” He said. They all shared looks with one another. A mix of guilty and nervous. All silently begging one another to speak up.

Elliot was probably the only person they all truly couldn’t collectively get their bearings around. Understandable seeing as he was the only person they all loved unconditionally. The person they wanted the most for. The person all their action worked to benefit. The very reason the live and do their best in their roles every day. The person the existed for.

Shockingly it was Little Elliot who took action first. He chewed his lip nervously before putting on a smile and walking over to Elliot calmly holding a hand out to him to hold. Seeing as he was such a young kid, either five or six, Elliot couldn’t bring himself to reject the offer.

He took the kids hand and let him lead him back to the chair. Little Elliot held out his other hand gesturing to the chair with that same adorable smile.

“Sit Elliot, sit.” He said. Elliot did as told slowly, still holding his hand and looking at the others suspiciously. Little Elliot didn’t let go of his hand. Planning to hold in in silent support. While the adults explained all the complicated stuff he tried to focus on his job. Giving an air of peace that the others could feed off of in times of stress.

Little Elliot looked to them now. A waiting look on his face. He’d done his part now he expected one of the others to step up. Mr. Robot was the one to finally get up. He started walking over to him into the light while taking off his cap.

“Look Elliot-“

“Dad?” Elliot said his face unreadable now, but clearly overwhelmed.

Mr. Robot looked shocked as well. He looked back at the others and noticed how other than Mastermind they were covered by the dark just enough to make it difficult for Elliot to see them. He hadn’t noticed what he looked like until he stepped into the light and took his cap off.

“Idiot!” Prosecutor said smacking him on the back of the head as she got into the light too. Deciding it was better to just let Elliot get the shock out his system all at once.

“Mom?” He said still frozen and even more tense then before. Prosecutor sent him a sympathetic look. The first kind expression Mastermind has ever seen on her face.

“No, Elliot. I’m not your Mom, sorry.” She said feeling slightly guilty that she was never able to truly fill that spot. It couldn’t be helped though. She may have his Mother’s likeness, but she’d never claim to be that despicable woman.

The unfair punishments she gave to Little Elliot didn’t even touch the things the real one did to Elliot and they never would. She’d never stoop that low against one of her own.

“Can someone please tell me what’s going on!” Elliot said now on the brink of hysterics.

“We’re your alters Elliot.” Mastermind said ripping it off like a band-aid. Beating round the bush in this situation would just make everything worse.

“A-alters? W-what does that mean?”

“We’re your other personalities.” Mr. Robot said following Mastermind’s lead. They let that information sink in for a moment.

“… Other personalities, like… you mean I’m crazy?” He said upset by the news.

“No! We’re aren’t crazy! We just… our brain just works different then most other people’s.” Prosecutor tried to reassure him. Too bad she didn’t have that much experience with that.

He jumped up at that. Dropping Little Elliot’s hand and feeling the onset of overwhelming emotions again.

“No, no, no. This is just a dream. This isn’t real. I was just at work. I was about to go home and pack to move out tomorrow. It’s supposed to be m-my big day! I’m supposed to be getting married!” He said looking at them all again. Mastermind felt a wave of guilt.

“It wasn’t real.” He said just loud enough to be heard. Looking down and trying to sink into his jacket. He couldn’t meet Elliot’s eyes once they turned to him.

“I… I made it up.” He said.

“You what?”

“It wasn’t real. None of it. I made it all up for you. So that… so that you could be happy while I made it a reality. So, that you could finally have the life you always wanted.” He said finally glancing up to see Elliot’s devastated look.

That look told them all that he was now remember what his life really was. What it was really like. The painful reality of it all. He sat down on the chair again this time breaking down into tears and sobs. The others felt the weight of his pain overflow into them as it hit him full force. Shy tears were falling from their own eyes without permission. They were just barely keeping it together. Little Elliot was struggling he most with that. His little fists were clutched tight to his pants and large tears and snot were falling form his face. He was biting his bottom lip trying to hold in the vocal sniffles. He wasn’t doing so well with that either.

He walked stiffly back over to Elliot trying to keep it together as he leaned over slowly and wrapped his small arms around him. Doing his best to comfort him. Elliot returned his hug, clutching tightly to his small body and sobbing even harder into his small shoulder. The others wanted to join in and try to help but they knew they should stay out of the way. Little Elliot was struggling enough trying to give his usual calming presence on Elliot. He didn’t need to also try making them feel better too.

They stood there for what felt like hours while Little Elliot worked his magic and got Elliot to a reasonable level of calm. At least calm enough to continue their conversation.

“Thank you.” He whispered to Little Elliot when he finally pulled away. He didn’t let go of his hand though. Clinging to it like a lifeline. Which right now, it kind of was.

Elliot looked around at all of them again in a new light.

“I don’t know where to start.” Elliot said.

“…How about with introductions.” Mr. Robot said with hopefully a welcoming and reassuring smile. Elliot looked at him with a weary look. Still unnerved at seeing his dead father walking and talking. Thankfully, associated with this face though. Mr. Robot may not have been able to protect the others from the reality of what Elliot’s father did to him, but he could still hold onto the memories from Elliot.

Elliot nodded for him to continue. Mr. Robot cleared his throat before continuing.

“I guess we should start with the oldest and work our way down, huh? Well that’s me. I’m the first personality your mind ever created Elliot.” Mr. Robot said.

“What’s your name? I mean… you two said your not supposed to be my parents so who are you?” Elliot asked his grip loosening on Little Elliot’s hand as his curiosity started to distract from his other emotions. Mr. Robot chuckled at the question.

“Well, we don’t really have names. We more so have roles but all these guys call me Mr. Robot. You made me because you felt your father… didn’t do a good enough job protecting you. That he wasn’t always there for you. I’m here to make sure your never alone again. That you, that everyone here, always has someone on there side. You could think of my role int his little family of ours as the protector.” He explained. Elliot digested this and nodded along with his words. They made more sense then he was expecting them to. He didn’t understand why his mind would fracture itself so much, but the reasons were actually quite simple and understand able.

“I was the next personality your mind made.” Prosecutor spoke up pulling Elliot from his thoughts.

“Everyone calls me Prosecutor because that is my role. You see Elliot you made me because of your Mother’s treatment of you. You didn’t just want her to stop hurting you, you wanted her to protect you and be on your side. So you made me in her likeness. Only instead of turning all that anger and abuse to you I turn it to your enemies. To anybody you need me to. In a way you can think of me as you own personal bully-for-hire.” She said in the simplest terms she could explain. Elliot remained silent and looked to the Alter that looked most like himself. Only to look down at Little Elliot when he tugged on his arm.

“I’m next!” Little Elliot said beaming up at Elliot still holding his hand. Elliot was a little confused since they were going in order of oldest but he couldn’t resist that face so he just smiled at him and waited for him to explain his role.

“I came next. My role is ‘The Abused’ but everyone calls me Little Elliot.” He said with a smile that showed he was proud of his role but Elliot was now frowning thinking about how could his mind have made such a small child have a role called something like that?

“It’s not exactly like your thinking.” Mr. Robot spoke up trying o reassure him.

“Little Elliot’s role is probably the most complicated and important among us.” Prosecutor said giving a genuine compliment to Little Elliot for the first time since he came into existence. Having Elliot around really put her in her best behavior.

“My job is to take all the abuse directed at us and make it something good.” He said in that oversimplified why of a child. Elliot was now just even more confused.

“What he means to say is that whenever you suffer any abuse at all of any kind that the world threw at you is was him that made you feel better. During those times when things just really felt at their lowest and it wasn’t worth going on it was Little Elliot that gave you hope. That gave you those brief moments of peace.” Mr. Robot explained for him. Elliot looked at the little boy next to him with clarity.

“That was you?” He asked. Little Elliot beamed at him. He’d held Elliot’s hand so many times without being seen. It was nice to finally be known.

Elliot placed a hand on his shoulder and met his eyes seriously.

“Thank you.” He said with as much sincerity as he could muster. Little Elliot just grinned at him and held his hand tighter.

“It’s my job.” He said with his small chest puffed up. Elliot smiled at him one last time before looking up at his last Alter. The one that looked so much like him. The one that hadn’t said a word during any of the others exchange. The one who was still seemingly trying to will himself into nonexistence and it wasn’t working.

“And you are?” He asked finally getting him to look at him.

“…Mastermind.” He said lowly. The others could feel his tension fill the room. His guilt was clear in the eyes of the others, but Elliot didn’t know him yet so he couldn’t tell. For all he knew Mastermind was always like this.

“What do you do?” Elliot asked. Mastermind took a deep breath before taking off his hood and facing Elliot fully. Deciding if Elliot was going to hate him for locking in that world then he was going to face that head on rather than trying to hide.

“You made my to carry your rage.” He started. Elliot visibly moved back at the information. Mastermind almost stopped speaking from his reaction.

“I… I’m hear to make this world better for you. I carry you hate and anger to society and everything you dealt in this world. I was made to do something about it. To make this world better so that it would be deserving of you living in it.” Mastermind said with a dedication in his eyes that burned strongly. The other could all see his love and commitment to Elliot shining through.

“I put you away so that you wouldn’t have endure the struggle of making a world like that. So, that you-“

“Wait. You made that world I was in.” Elliot asked his face void of what he was feeling and his voice tight with it’s serious nature. Mastermind froze up again. He forced himself to meet Elliot’s eyes. He nodded unable to voice the truth.

Elliot stood slowly from his chair dropping Little Elliot’s hand. Who looked concerned when he did, reaching out to him briefly to take it again. Mr. Robot stopped him from following with a hand on his chest. They watched in silence as Elliot walked right up to Mastermind, until they were face and face. They all waited in anticipation. Half expecting him to punch Mastermind of something else along those lines.

So, you can imagine all their surprised when he wrapped him in a tight hug. Mastermind was so caught off guard he didn’t even return it.

“Thank you.” Elliot whispered against his ear. Mastermind’s chest felt tight at his words.

“Thank you for wanting more for me.” Mastermind hugged him back even tighter than Elliot was hugging him. Stray tears falling form his eyes in relief to know Elliot doesn’t hate him.

Everyone watched with small smiles as they had their moment. Once they were done they pulled away and Elliot wiped his own eyes again before trying to get back to the matter in hand.

“What I don’t understand is if you had me in there until my real life was better why’d you pull me out now? Did you actually manage to do it?” Elliot asked look of wonder on his face.

“Not exactly.” Mr. Robot said.

“It’s a long story which we can’t tell everything to you.” Prosecutor said.

“Why not?” Elliot asked back to being confused.

“Well you to put it in simple turns I did manage to make this world better for you but it kinda came at a price.” Mastermind explained.

“We managed to rid the world of the biggest most corrupt organizations of the world, but in the process we got a little too involved with their leader.” Mr. Robot started. Elliot’s eyes were practically falling out of his head with how wide they were.

“You did what? You actually managed to rid the world of that?” He said and they all nodded.

“The problem is that their leader, she goes by Whiterose, had a device we weren’t counting on. It sent us _here_.” Mastermind said. Trying to ease Elliot into this next part which really might be the thing to tip him over. He sent a meaningful look Little Elliot’s way. The boy nodded and walked over to Elliot to take his hand again.

“Where is here?” Elliot asked. The other remained silent for a while just looking at his expectant face.

“…Another world?” Mr. Robot said as if it was a question. Elliot looked at him seriously before he started to laugh, thinking he was joking. When the other didn’t join in his face dropped.

“We’ve come that far? How long have I been out?” He asked touching his chest with his free hand. Little Elliot’s careful control on his peace being the only reason he was still calm and properly processing all of this.

“…Not that long.” Mastermind said with a small shrug.

“Oh, so I really am crazy. We all are.” Elliot said looking at them all the a new light in his eyes again but still amazingly calm. It was almost alarming how good Little Elliot was at his job.

“We’re not crazy. We promise. Look at the phone on your hand. It has all the evidence of our real world and life in it. All the people we’ve met and the few we’ve befriended. All of our enemies and information on them. All the news and proof of what happen in our world has been saved and encrypted on that phone. You’ll find none of it, none of the people, or events, or anything anywhere in this… place.” Prosecutor said the other’s nodding along with her words.

Elliot looked at the phones skeptically but did as they said and went through it. Also using it to try and cross reference what he read. He would have maybe believed they just faked everything if it wasn’t for the videos and more specifically the people in them. People who he couldn’t find any trace of no matter where is searched. They only existed on this phone.

He sat down on the bed overwhelmed.

“T-this is too much. I don’t think I can handle this.” He said setting the phone on the bed. The other’s were quick to speak up at that.

“You don’t have to. That’s what we’re here for. You don’t have to concern yourself at all with how we’re going to get back home or find the people that did this to us. You being completely uninvolved is actually exactly what we need.” Mr. Robot said. Elliot calmed at that with the help of Little Elliot still, who was reluctant to let go of his hand from the rest of his night or at least until he’d digested all this information, but was confused again.

“How does my ignorance help?” He asked and they resisted correcting him for calling himself ignorant.

“You are our cover. You see in our world we had a hard time making sure no one knew we were involved in…. all the things we did. The biggest problem is that we can’t lie. Not really, when it counts. We just don’t have enough emotional control for that.” Mastermind said.

“We need you to live a normal oblivious life in this world, on the off chance something happens and we need someone who can honestly say they know absolutely nothing that’s going on.” Mr. Robot said with a wide grin clearly proud of the plan they’d made.

“All of use already know too much, but you’ve been, in a way, asleep for it all. You can the most important part of our plan. Our alibi.” Prosecutor said.

Elliot was starting to understand what they meant. It all made since now. He nodded along with what they were saying. He could do that. He could contribute to their plans in some way without having to do something he knew he wasn’t capable of.

“What would this entail?” he asked.

“We just need you to be your usual self and work at the NYPD as their IT.” Mastermind explained.

“Anytime we need to do anything we will leave you out of it. If in someway it conflicts with your plans at all that will be the only time will tell you we’re about to do something. Otherwise, we’ll try to keep you as uninformed as possible. So if you have any blackouts or lost time or anything similar we just need you to carry on like nothing happen.” Mr. Robot finished.

Elliot thought about all of this as he looked around all these amazing people around him. People that had managed something he could have never even dreamed of. All for his sake. The least he could do was try to help and contribute to the best of his ability.

“When do we start?”


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay so this should be the last of the paperwork. Just sign here and we’re down.” The retail agent said with a relieved smile. Clearly exhausted after everything Elliot’s alters put him through.

“Wait, don’t sign that yet! We haven’t read over the fine print.” Prosecutor said leaning over the paper, adjusting her reading glasses.

“Make sure you take a picture of this page too.” Mr. Robot said.

“Don’t forget to ask for a paper copy of it.” Mastermind added. All three looking over the contract.

Elliot sighed exasperatedly and giving the retailer a sympathetic look. He felt like he should apologize for them being so difficult.

“Don’t apologize. It makes us look weak.” Prosecutor said under her breath as she highlighted yet another thing on the contract.

Elliot just huffed and grabbed a pen signing the paper before any of them could stop him.

“Hey! You don’t know what we just agreed to.” She yelled at him wanting to take the paper back.

“I just agreed to us having a place to stay. Now can we please get on with this?” He asked in his head. He’d gotten good at not having to actually speak out loud to answer them. A skill he’d cultivated over the past three days of them hassling this agent.

The others huffed but just stood back and let Elliot wrap everything up. He shook hands with the agent and took his keys to his new place. Something significantly nicer than their apartment in their old world but no where close to what would be considered nice in New York City. They did do their best to find a place as close to home as possible.

Just as Elliot was about to leave he stopped and faced the agent one last time.

“Hey, I have one more question for you.” He said and saw the fear flicker in the man’s eyes. He tried to smile reassuringly.

“It’s a quick one.” He said and the man just nodded and gestured For Elliot to go on.

“How are the neighbors?” He asked making all the others turn to the agent as well. Little Elliot also came out now that all the boring negotiation talk was over.

The man hummed a bit as he took a moment to remember what people in Elliot’s side of the building are like.

“Pretty quiet hall I’d say. Your closest neighbors are a Mother daughter pair across from you. On your right is a sweet old lady by the name of Margret and her husky. Don’t worry he’s well trained and doesn’t bark often!” The agent reassured and Elliot nodded.

“I have no problem with dogs.” He said and the agent nodded relieved.

“On my left?” Elliot asked. The agent got a look of annoyance.

“Oh, him. He’ll probably be your loudest neighbor. He’s the kinda guy that has a new body in his bed every night, if you know what I mean? I suggest investing in some ear plugs at night.” He said honestly. Elliot nodded in understanding.

He and the others were happy with their new neighbors. They sounded like the type to keep to themselves. Maybe living here really would be no different from living in his old home.

“Alright then, thanks for the information.” Elliot said about to leave again but this time the agent stopped him.

“Just one more thing, Mr. Alderson! Do you plan to move in today? Our complex offers a deal on a moving company we partner with. Would you like me to send them to your current place?” He asked Elliot shook his head with his usual awkward fake polite smile. It gotten better because of his time spent socializing in Mastermind’s Paradise but the remembrance of his past made it impossible to genuine.

“No thanks man, I don’t have much to move. Even if I did, I don’t have time today I got a job interview at the NYPD in an hour or so.” Elliot explained not wanting the man to try and pressure him into getting the movers.

“NYPD? You’re an officer?” The agent asked surprised.

“IT.” Elliot explained then left with a small nod, a little rudely, before the man could ask him anymore questions and carry out the conversation. If the man brought up his sudden leave next time they saw each other he’d just blame it on running late for his interview. Which isn’t a complete lie. He did have to head out now for his interview or he might not get there in time. He didn’t exactly have a car after all.

Elliot headed straight to the subway the moment he left the office. He could feel anxiety starting to rise as the train got closer and closer to their destination. This job was all he had to contribute to his alters plan. If he messed this up, he’d never forgive himself.

Elliot was pulled from these thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked over to his right to see Mr. Robot sitting next to him with a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry kid your gonna do great.” He said.

“We’ll be there if you need us.” Mastermind said now appearing on his left with Prosecutor on Mastermind’s other side.

Little Elliot walked over to him and sat on his lap. He hummed an unrecognizable tune softly as he played with Elliot’s much large fingers. Elliot felt a wave of calm not just from Little Elliot but from the overwhelming since of support he had. He looked around himself and felt, in rare occasion, like he wasn’t alone.

Elliot smiled softly as he leaned back against the seat. Wrapping his arms around Little Elliot and leaning back with him as they enjoyed the ride to the station.

.

.

.

When Elliot first walked in, he felt a sense of unease from all the uniforms around him. Not just because of his bad experience with police officers, given what neighborhood he used to live in, but also from the overcrowding of the seemingly much too small station.

He was having one of his bad days. With everything that’s been going on recently he hasn’t been comfortable with the thought of touching people. Not even just the small brush of a shoulder seemed very bearable. He’d only managed to shake the Retailer’s hand earlier because he’d felt bad enough for the man to put up with the discomfort.

Now that feeling felt like it was blasted tenfold. He likely couldn’t even handle a handshake right now.

“Elliot Alderson?” Elliot looked up and saw an Asian man smiling at him while holding what he guessed was his file. Elliot nodded at him.

“Right this way please.” He said turning around and heading to an office on the other side of the room.

Elliot followed him with a bit of apprehension. Feeling that discomfort come back. He was happy when he felt small fingers wrap around his own and calm his nerves. He thinks he may get too dependent on those small fingers one day if this kept up.

The man’s office was darker than the front room at first until the man opened his blinds. Once he did, he turned around and seemed to see the nervousness coming off of Elliot. He tried to give a friendly smile as he gestured to the chair in front his desk.

“Please have a seat.” He said taking his own seat as well. Elliot nodded awkwardly again before doing as told. God, why can’t he just act normal when it counted?

“Don’t worry kid we’re right here.” Elliot heard from behind him, but he knew better then to turn around and face his alters.

“If you want, I could take over.” Mastermind offered. He may be even more socially awkward then Elliot but at least he doesn’t care and therefore doesn’t get stressed out about not fitting in.

“No, I got this. I can at least do this much.” Elliot responded sitting up in the chair and waiting for the man to start asking questions.

“Well, in case you didn’t know, I am Lieutenant Gil Arroyo. If you get the job, I will be the one signing your paycheck.” He said with a smile and light attitude. Elliot just nodded again not knowing how he was supposed to respond to that. Gil cleared his throat as his attempts to lighten the air fell short.

“So, Let’s begin. From here I can see that you are a more then qualified for this position. With your credentials and history, you could have gone anywhere you wanted. Why settle for working as simple IT for the NYPD?” Gil asked expecting the usual answer you typically expect from a young overqualified candidate. A righteous attitude towards the law and a desire to contribute to the justice system. The type of motivations that were easily crushed early on in jobs like this.

Elliot was quiet for a moment just looking around while he tried to think of a good answer. Truth was he had no idea why he needed this job. The others hadn’t told him. They just said it was important and that it was important he didn’t know why it was important. He tried to keep his answer as close to the truth as possible.

“To be honest. I don’t really know, myself. All I know is I’m new to this city and I needed a job quick. I’m good with computers and technology but not so much with people. I figured a job like this would be perfect for me.” Elliot said.

Gil seemed to find the honest answer refreshing. He was so used to people faking and trying to present ‘their best selves’ in these interviews that Elliot’s lax attitude was a nice change. The kid genuinely seemed like he didn’t care either way if he got the job.

Now that wasn’t the best trait for an officer to have but when it came to IT all that really mattered was technical skill. He didn’t need someone who was good with words just computers. Elliot was the most qualified applicant they got and it was already decided long before hand he would get the job. This interview was more of a formality and to see how he’d handle under pressure if the situation ever called for it. This was a win in Gil’s book.

His smile said as much but he continued on with the interview for appearance sake. As well as to get an even better feel for his future employee.

“Do you have any experience hacking in stress situations outside of training?” Gil asked looking down at the file again to see if the answer was written down.

Elliot thought about his experience in hacking and tried to remember if he did any that he could legally shared.

“Let me step in for this one.” Mastermind said taking his place. Suddenly it was him sitting in the interview chair and Elliot was standing in the back with the rest of his alters.

“I worked for a cyber security company previously. There were many times we had to come in at night to either stop hacks happening in real time or even hack into our own system to test the security quality. The company recently went bankrupt though. It’s why I need this job.” Mastermind shared. Elliot wondered if that was true and they had actually worked for a company like that.

Gil nodded in understanding.

“I could imagine that. With the new WellickWare out there, not much use for big cyber security companies now.” Gil said offhandedly.

“WellickWare?” Mr. Robot said. Thankfully only for them to hear.

Elliot watched as the name seemed to strike familiarity with all his alters. Even Little Elliot seem to know what’s going on.

“You don’t think….?” Prosecutor said turning to Mr. Robot.

“No, that’s impossible. We saw what happen to him.” He answered.

“Did we?” Mastermind muttered.

Elliot was now even more intrigued by what they were talking about. His insatiable curiosity demanded he asked what they meant, but he knew what his role was. His role was to be in the dark. He couldn’t know. He had to remain confused for the better of them all. No matter how frustrating this was clearly going to be.

“One day we’ll fill you in on it all kiddo.” Mr. Robot said comfortingly. Elliot nodded in understanding.

“Well kid, all other questions I had for you seem to be answered right here. I’m just going to be straight with you. You’re the best applicant we’ve got for the position so, if you want the job it’s yours.” Gil said smiling expecting him to show at least a little happiness at the news. He felt both surprised and not when Elliot didn’t even really react to the news.

“When do I start?” He asked face just as passive as when Gil first saw him in the station. Something about that was amusing and refreshing in comparison to the usually highly emotional and dramatic people he had in his life. He thinks he’s gonna like this kid, a lot.

“Soon as you can. Since our only other IT’s are either on vacation or sick we’ve been incredible backed up. Can you start within the next three days?”

“I can start today.” Elliot offered knowing that his alters were anxious to get started. That is if the way Little Elliot was jumping up in down in excitement was anything to go off of. He tended to wear all their hearts on his sleeve. A great indicator of what they were collectively feeling.

Gil looked surprised at the offer. Especially since Elliot didn’t seem particularly excited to get started. Maybe he just really needed the money?

“Um, sure thing? I can give you a case to get started on. I just need to have your ID made first and officially get you in the system.” Gil said smiling receiving that same blank nod in return.

“Why don’t I show you to the IT’s shared office?” Gil offered when he got that same nod, he stood up with the expectation of Elliot to follow while he left.

The IT room wasn’t far at all from the main floor. Likely intentional to keep digital evidence close. The room was also locked with a pad lock and card key. Elliot started at it in surprised. He hadn’t thought it would be so secure.

“We can’t really put digital evidence away like we do our physical evidence so we’re just sure to keep the room safely locked up. Don’t worry you’ll get a key card, so you won’t have to worry about remembering the code. That’s for people like me with clearance who don’t work as an IT.” Gil explained. Once they were in Elliot took in the small room and the many files and drawers that seemed to hold various digital objects. From VHS tapes to entire desktop computer.

“The case files are over there. I’d try to get to the older ones first and then start on the new cases. Some of those cases have been waiting days for information.” Gil said as Elliot entered and ran his fingers over the familiar feeling of the keyboard.

“Think you’ll be okay working alone? You don’t actually have to start now you know?” Gil said offering him an out now that he’s seen the large work load. Elliot shook his head.

“I’ll be fine.” Elliot said already sitting down at one of the many computers.

“Okay then, welcome to the team Elliot.” Gil said offering a hand to shake with a welcoming smile. Elliot started at it in apprehension. Neither he nor anyone else wanted, _could_ , to take that hand right now. His face must have reflected his discomfort because after a while Gil just cleared his throat and lowered his hand. Elliot felt the sudden need to explain himself. It wasn’t good to get on his Bosses bad side on the first day.

“…Sorry, I just have this thing about being touched. Not good with people, remember.” Elliot said in what other would read as a monotone voice, but Gil could hear the attempt at apology in it. His smile was understanding.

“Don’t sweat it kid. You’re not my first run in with mental health concerns.” He said honestly. Elliot felt at ease with that. Gil may not be able to fully understand but at least he had some context if he had other coworkers, friends, or family with similar problems. That was more then what most people could say.

Elliot just nodded again at his words and Gil took his blank stare after that as the okay to leave.

“Good luck.” He said in final goodbye before leaving Elliot with access to all their digital files.

Once he was gone Elliot and his alters all looked over the wide expanse of work to do.

“Divide and conquer?” Mr. Robot said giving an over exaggerated crack of his neck. Mastermind was smiling slightly at his antics.

“Let’s do this.” Elliot said.

With that they got to work.

.

.

.

Over the next couple of days Elliot managed to clear out every single case the NYPD threw his way. He didn’t even need the help of his alters to do it. The digital limitations of this world were astounding. Hacking has never been easier. He was almost bored with the lack of challenge.

Even his alters had mentioned easily being able to access everything the police department had to offer. Every level of security they had was bypassed in a matter of hours. Work like that should have taken days with a whole team of hackers to do. Usually with someone on the inside. They could’ve even done it at home. They didn’t even really need this job for that. Now, they just used it as a means of money and as a cover.

Elliot’s alters had informed him that they still wanted him to build a reputation though. See if their skills could get recognized enough to get into the FBI as an IT or a consultant at the very least. They couldn’t manage to hack the FBI without someone on the inside. At least there systems seem like it was going to be a challenge.

Elliot had promised to do all he could to make that a reality. Which is why he was still at work now just waiting for Gil or someone else to show up with something for him to do.

Every so often while he waited, he would look at the clock then look away for just a second and when he looked back minutes or sometimes even hours will have gone by. That’s how he knew that his alters were taking over. He didn’t let it worry him though. They’d let him know beforehand that the only times when they wouldn’t inform him of the switch would be when they needed him to remain oblivious. Any other time when he could be involved, they would have him be involved.

That being said, they didn’t come out too often all together. They knew he was still getting used to this whole ‘having multiple people in your head’ thing. They did their best to give him space and let his life be his own as much as possible. All the while trying to ease him into the idea of having them around.

They’d often come out on their own or rarely two at a time, but only all three of them when he needed them. They tried to interact with him one on one so that he could get to know them each individually. He’d actually grow to like all of them in their own way. Little Elliot was a breath of fresh air in the darkness that was his life, Prosecutor was the perfect person to sit around and bitch about people with, Mr. Robot was secretly funny when he wasn’t being so overprotective of everyone, and Mastermind was perfect when he just wanted some silent company. Someone to have around without the pressure of keeping up conversation. And when they did talk it was always about the real shit in life. The way this world really works and how, in theory, it could be improved. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but Mastermind might be his favorite.

Which is why currently while he waited for another case it was Mastermind’s who was present. The two of them have been mindlessly hacking into the lives of the people they saw daily in the station. Especially the people who worked directly under Gil. For no other reason than they tended to cause the most scenes in the precinct, especially Malcolm Bright.

Who, from what Elliot had over heard around the station, was the newest member of the team that Gil had personally brought on. A deep dive into his personal back ground showed he was a well known profiler of the FBI before he was let go for inappropriate behavior in the field. Seems he has a bit of a death wish. More even more interesting then that, and in all of their opinion the real reason he was let go, his father was some world renowned serial killer.

The Surgeon

Apparently a big deal in this world. He didn’t exist at all in Elliot’s own. But the stuff they’d looked up about the man were very telling. They could easily see why he was so hated. They actually felt kinda bad for Malcom. No one should have to pay for the sins of their father.

From what they could tell he was a damn good profiler and deserved better then to just be let go on the vague speculations that his action may mean he inherited his fathers mental conditions. They also knew though that despite the sympathy and interest they had for him it was best to stay as far away as possible. If this guy was as good of a profiler as he seemed to be they didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

None of the alters did. Even Little Elliot, who thought of everyone as a potential friend, wanted nothing to do with him. They didn’t want him to know about them. To figure out what their mind-set was. That Elliot was more then just Elliot. That was their business and it was private business. Even people who knew about it in their other world didn’t know the finer details of how everything worked. Not even Darlene.

They also didn’t want to risk being declared mentally incompetent and fired from the job they put in some work to get. Even if they weren’t fired there was no chance of the FBI, or anyone else in the government for that matter, taking them on if they knew.

From what they’d learned about Malcom he didn’t seem the type to let something like that go until he figured it all out. Which honestly could be to there benefit one day.

Eliot was drawn from his thoughts when Mastermind suddenly logged out of everything they had pulled up about Gil’s team. He was about to question it when he saw Gil himself walk in.

“Hey Elliot, we need you. Can you follow me for a bit?” Gil asked looking around the weirdly empty room.

He’d never seen it be cleared of all their cases at once before. Elliot really was a fantastic hire. He wished they’d found him sooner. Though maybe if they did and Gil wasn’t the one in charge of hiring at the time Elliot wouldn’t have gotten the job. Not many people take chance on others with clear mental health problem. People like Edrisa, Elliot, and Malcom. Which Gil thought was a real shame. In his experience those were the real genius.

Elliot nodded at Gil and stood to follow him. Grabbing a laptop on his way out. It wasn’t lost on him when all the others came out and walked beside them.

“Isn’t this just great.” Mr. Robot huffed.

“Guess the Universe decided it hadn’t screwed with us enough this week.” Prosecutor uttered aching for a cigarette.

“Maybe he won’t notice us?” Little Elliot tried to be optimistic.

Mastermind and Elliot were both just silently worrying. Just when they all collectively decided to avoid Malcom as much as possible their getting led right to him on their first week.

“Can I ask what the case is about?” Elliot asked hoping to solve their problem before they got to the office so he could avoid an unwanted encounter. Gil looked over at him as they walked.

“Social media star found dead in her apartment. We got ahold of a camera of one of her stalkers who was reported following her despite a restraining order. We need you to get into it without disturbing the pictures and video on it and seeing as this case seems to keep coming back to technology I figured it would be best to have you riding with us on this one.” Gil said smiling at him.

Elliot clearly wasn’t busy with any other case lately and Gil felt bad about just leaving him in that room alone. A part of him knows Elliot probably prefers it that way but it just didn’t sit right with him. People should at least start getting to know the man behind all their digital case work. The effort Elliot had put in on the first day did not go at all unrecognized. The entire station was buzzing about him. So much so that even the team wanted to meet him by now. Malcom in particular wanted to pick his brain. You didn’t run into such gifted people every day. He was always interested in seeing for himself the similarities and differences of what most people would call ‘genius’.

Elliot just nodded at his words not having anything else to say. He heard Little Elliot’s hurried feet trying to walk beside him as he reached for his hand. Doing his best to keep up and give comfort. His small legs moving fast as they walked to the office.

Once they finally got there Gil opened the door for Elliot politely. Just before he walked through, he spoke to the others beside him.

“Maybe I should just go in with Little Elliot. He may notice a switch if we all try to do this together. I just need Little Elliot to calm my nerves.” Elliot said quickly walking in as not to seem suspicious with his delayed entry.

Everyone in the room had eyes on him the moment he entered. Elliot felt his anxiety start to rise form all the eyes on him. He suddenly wished he’d asked Mastermind to switch with him. Him or even Mr. Robot. They would have handled this much better then him. Little Elliot squeezed his hand at his thoughts. Damn, was he projecting them?

“You can do this. It’s your job remember? So, that means you’re the bestest at it.” Little Elliot said in that optimistic tone of his that never seemed to go away for anything.

Elliot’s lips twitched slightly almost in a smile at his attempt to make him feel better. None of the others seemed to notice this, as the only woman in the room offered him a seat next to her own. Dani Powell, was her name if what Elliot remembered was right. Elliot went to sit next to her without saying a word.

He noticed how none of them made a big deal of that and wondered briefly if Gil had told him about his social problems. If so, he should really thank the man before he left today.

Elliot looked at the last two men in the room. One of them was heavy set and balled and looked like someone had just pissed in his coffee. So Elliot was guessing he was JT. That meant the lean white guy resting against the wall was Malcom and the man Elliot had to be most careful of right now. Once Elliot was seated he was sure to make sure the chair was far enough away from the table to allow for Little Elliot to crawl on his lap and get comfortable. He didn’t wrap his arms around him though because he wasn’t sure how that would look to the others.

“Everyone this is Elliot Alderson. Mr. Alderson this is Detectives Dani Powell and JT Tarmel as well as our Profiler and Consultant Malcom Bright.” Gil introduced him taking his own seat.

A series of greeting went around the room and Elliot nodded at them all with a small greeting.

“Nice to meet you all.” He said not speaking further. There was a brief moment of awkward silence before Gil cleared his throat and gestured at the digital camera on the table.

“Do you think you can get into that without deleting any of the photos?” He asked. Elliot nodded and moved to hook the camera to his laptop.

“Yes, I can also recover all the deleted footage and photographs as well if that would help?” Elliot offered already typing away at the laptop and doing as he said. The others looked surprised at the offer.

“You can do that with such a simple camera?” Malcom asked coming over from his side of the room to watch over Elliot’s shoulder as he worked, suddenly fascinated. He looked on at all the coding on the screen which he couldn’t make heads or tails of. It was a strange feeling to be completely ignorant about something for once.

“Yeah, uh, nothing really ever gets deleted. If it was there before then I can recover it.” Elliot said never looking up from the screen, typing away with vigor. That is until Malcom leaned over him to get a better look his hand resting on the back of Elliot seat. Elliot froze in his typing and looked over at Malcom uncomfortably.

Malcom noticed immediately and gave an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, forgot about your um… I’ll just move back here.” Malcom stumbled over his apology sending another apologetic look over to the exasperated faces of his team over Elliot’s shoulder.

Gil had talked with them before Elliot even came in about his social anxiety and haphephobia. Malcom honestly hadn’t meant to make him uncomfortable he just got distracted by his skill. If Malcom was honest he was also interested in Elliot’s mental condition. He couldn’t help the scientific curiosity.

He could tell very quickly it didn’t seem to be the result of a birth defect and likely a result of some trauma. A childhood one most likely if it was this strong. Elliot also seemed to have been like this for a while so it stands to reason it wasn’t a recent condition.

Malcom knew that he should likely not poke that bear. He above anyone should understand childhood trauma and the desire to keep it private. That didn’t help stop his over analytical mind though. It was almost impossible to turn off. Which is why he couldn’t help but notice, when Elliot was done typing, the way one of his hands fell into his lap and seemed to clasp around thin air. As if he was holding something.

A desire to be touched?

That would make sense. Malcom can’t imagine a life of not touching people wouldn’t come with some longing of doing so. Which could also mean that he’s not to content with his own condition.

Malcom scratched that theory when he saw the slight almost unnoticeable change in his demeanor seconds later. Something about his early action gave him peace. Like his desire to be touch was fulfilled. That brought about a bunch of possibilities for his mental state that Malcom decide was not best to get into right now. Though it didn’t make Mr. Alderson suddenly so much more interesting. Malcom would imagine he’d be seeking out this man more often from now on.

Gil must have noticed his calculating gaze on Elliot because he sent Malcom his signature warning glare. The one Malcom quickly became accustom to in his childhood. He sent Gil a smile filled with false innocence. Gil huffed and just knew he’d have to have a talk with Malcom later. That is if he listened to him after denying him seeing his Mother’s interrogation video. He may just start harassing Elliot out of pure spite to Gil.

“Okay, I’ve made all the footage and film available on this laptop. Is that all you needed?” Elliot asked desperate to get out of the room as fast as possible. He hadn’t been comfortable with Malcom standing behind him this entire time. It made it incredibly difficult to access what he was thinking. Elliot was glad when he was done with the hack and could then hold Little Elliot’s hand in his lap. It calmed his nerves significantly.

Gil could see how uncomfortable Elliot was getting and nodded as consent for him to leave.

“No, that’s all. You can go ahead back to your work station. We’ll call you if we need anything else.” He said an impressed smile on his face. He hadn’t expected Elliot to finish so quickly. The man was truly gifted.

Elliot nodded again and gave a awkward wave goodbye to the others in the room before leaving. Dani and JT waved back just as awkwardly. It was like his social anxiety was contagious. They were too afraid of saying the wrong thing and making him uncomfortable so they opted to not speak at all in his presence, outside a greeting. They did however wear expression just as impressed as Gil’s.

Malcom on the other hand rushed out after Elliot. Suddenly having an idea come to mind.

“Bright?!” Gil called but didn’t follow after him not wanting to make the situation worse. It’s not like he’d be able to stop whatever he’s about to do anyways. JT and Dani exchanged concerned looks.

The moment Elliot left the office all his alters came back to give their comforting presence. They may not have been able to physically do much now outside of Little Elliot but just having them there was helping. Elliot was walking quickly with all of his alters by his side to their office when he heard the last voice he ever wanted to hear call out to him.

“Mr. Alderson! Mr. Alderson! Can I have a moment of your time?” Malcom said stopping short of a jog to him. Elliot knew he had no choice but to stop for him so he did.

Just like that his other alters disappeared. Not wanting to accidently take over. All that remained was Little Elliot, now pinching his jacket sleeve.

Once Malcom came up to him he greeted Elliot with a smile. So full force Elliot wondered if it hurt to smile so wide. Malcom habitually accessed Elliot once he was face to face with him. He noticed immediately the way Elliot was pinching his own Jacket sleeve. Likely a sign of distress. Clearly Malcom made him uncomfortable. He decided to be quick with his request.

“Can I speak to you for a minute? In private?” Malcom asked looking over at Elliot’s office down the hall. Elliot looked hesitantly at him.

“Uh, yeah, I have a lot of work to get back to…?”

“It will only be a second I promise.” Malcom said a little pushy already heading for Elliot’s office. He didn’t mean to be an asshole, but he was really desperate right now. He’d make it up to the man later, but for now he really just needed his help.

Elliot resigned himself to having to hear the man out and followed his to the tech lab. Once they did get there Malcom sat down at the nearest chair. Hoping that by sitting instead of standing he would seem less intimidating. He was trying to get Elliot to do him a favor after all.

“Mr. Alderson, how much do you know about me?” Malcom started.

Elliot gave a small shrug at the question. Walking over to sit at a chair further away from Malcom that might be social acceptable for a conversation. He also made sure it was close to another so that Little Elliot could have his own seat for once.

“I just met you today, man.” Elliot said with a weak smile trying to seem like he hadn’t already looked up almost everything on this man.

“But I’m sure you’ve heard some things around the office? Things about me father?” Malcom said. He wasn’t and idiot he knew how people like to gossip. Even if Elliot didn’t engage in it he likely still over heard a lot. People tend to ignore quiet people afterall. Allows for them to hear a lot.

Instead of pretending like he didn’t what Malcom was talking about he just nodded figuring the honest answer made more sense right now.

“Good, that’s good. It saves us the weird part of the conversation when I tell you my father is a serial killer.” Malcom said with a smile that was probably supposed to smooth over the air but pulled no reaction from Elliot other than his usual staring. Malcolm cleared his throat. He was use to the people he profiled being ‘talkers’ for lack of a better word. So, Elliot was a new challenge.

“So, anyways, during the investigation many people were questioned the night of my Father’s arrest. One of them being my Mother. I need your help getting ahold of her interrogation footage.” He said seriously. Shocked to see even asking his to steal government property didn’t get a reaction.

“Uh... I’m sorry man, but I can’t do that.” Elliot said.

“I don’t want to take it for good! I just need to see it. Would you be able to get a hold of it?” Malcom said a look in his eyes that showed his crazed obsession with this. Elliot leaned back from the man.

Elliot felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at it briefly and recognized it as Mr. Robot’s.

“That’s a look of a mad man if I ever saw one and trust me I see one every time we look in the mirror.” He joked.

“Maybe you should let one of us take over? He doesn’t seem in the right state of mind right now.” Mastermind said. None of them feeling comfortable leaving Elliot with Malcom when in this state.

“No, he’s a world reknown profiler. He’ll definitely notice if we switch even like this. I can handle this. I just need to approach it carefully. He’s obviously just looking for answers. We can understand how that can feel.” Elliot said to his alters. From Malcom’s perspective he was just staring off to the side in thought. Malcom cleared his throat and tried to get his attention.

“Mr. Alderson…?” He called. Elliot looked up at his voice.

“You can call me Elliot. No one calls me Mr. Alderson except people who don’t like me.” Elliot said and if he was anyone else Malcom would have though the was joking. Malcom nodded in understanding.

“Elliot, will you help me?” He asked. Elliot stared at him for a moment seemingly reading Malcom. Like he was just some other code on Elliot’s computer. One that Elliot was trying to decipher and see if he was worth his time. After a while of painful silence Elliot nodded. Malcom body relaxed in relief and he let out a huge sigh.

“Thank you.” He said, voice almost cracking with emotion. Elliot just shrugged. Feeling like he just did a good thing. His alters who were still present seemed pleased at his decision as well. He let Mastermind take over for this next part. He was the best hacker afterall no matter how much Mr. Robot tried to argue that point. Malcom likely wouldn’t be able to tell the difference in their hacking so there was likely no risk. Mastermind slid up to one of the computers and started typing away.

“I have access to those files but if I go through it the normal way the computer will log what I looked up and it will be on record. Judging by the fact you came to me for this and not the Lieutenant I’m guessing you don’t want that. So, I have to go in through the back way.” Mastermind said. Malcom looked over him shocked.

“Wait, your hacking into the police system?” Malcom asked walking over to watch him work. Mastermind stopped typing at the computer.

“Does that bother you?” He asked locking eyes with Malcom in a way that made him briefly see the change in Elliot. He brushed it off as just being the confidence of a man in his element. Malcom knew he was similar in this. Losing yourself in work your passionate about. However that did make him wonder how many times Elliot has done something like this to feel so confident in doing it and also so okay with it. Malcom barely had to do anything to convince him.

He decided to let that go. Deciding not to pry in the life of a man willing to help him.

“No, go on.” Malcom said gesturing to the computer. Mastermind nodded at him before getting back to work.

“What’s your Mother’s name?” He asked for appearance sake. He already knew exactly what video Malcom was talking about. He and Elliot having already watched it earlier together when they were hacking him.

“Jessica Whitley.” Malcom said watching Mastermind type in his Mother’s as well as his Father’s name in the series of code. Soon they were looking at the play button to a video with his mother sitting in a chair in an interrogation room. Malcolm’s breath studder and hand began to shake slightly when hew as finally face to face with it. Mastermind was going to press play when Malcom grabbed him by the wrist.

He tensed up and jerked sharply at the sudden rough touch. Malcom let go instantly.

“Sorry! I’m just… Can you just send it to me some how and I’ll watch it later?” Malcom said and Mastermind looked over him, seeing the vulnerability in his eyes. Clearly, he needed to be alone when he watched this.

“Okay, I’ll send it to your email. It will self delete once your done watching.” Mastermind explained. Malcom nodded in understanding but also had an amused smile on his face.

“Isn’t that just a movie plot thing?” He joked but received no reaction from Mastermind. Malcom just looked away and back at the screen giving up on trying to connect with him.

“Do you need my email?” Malcom asked.

“No, it’s in the system I got it.” Mastermind said the video as requested.

“Finished.” He said just as Malcom heard a small ding from his phone notifying him of an email. Malcom looked at it briefly to see it said From: NYPD.

“Thank you, you don’t know how much this means to me.” Malcom said giving Mastermind one of the most sincere expression he ever saw.

“…Your welcome.” He said just before switching out with Elliot in case there was any further discussion.

“I’d hug you, but I think that might be more of a punishment then a show of gratitude.” Malcom said finally managing to get a crack of a smile from Elliot. He felt a hint of pride at that. As he cam imagine it was a rare expression.

“Well then, I’ll get out of your hair.” Malcom said and Elliot nodded at him as he was leaving with that still much lighter air to him. Malcom stopped just before walking out the door.

“Oh and Elliot, if you need anything from me in the future, anything don’t hesitate to ask.” Malcom said smiling meaningfully. Elliot nodded again noticing how his alter seemed to all have contemplating looks on their faces.

Once Malcom finally left they started talking.

“Way to go kid! This could be great for us!” Mr. Robot said his enthusiasm reflecting everyone else’s feelings who were all smiling proudly at Elliot.

“We’re one step closer to getting home.”

.

.

.

Malcom walked leisurely back to the office. A weight off of his chest. He was finally getting the answers he’d been searching for since the day of his Father’s arrest. That air of relief was accompanied though with a sense of bitterness and not just the expected kind of getting for his Mother but also toward Gil. To think that a stranger who didn’t even know of a fraction of the pain this has caused Malcom over the years would be willing to help him but the man he consider to be a Father to him was unwilling and dismissed it without even a second thought.

With that unpleasant reminder Malcom entered the meeting room again. Immediately getting attention of his whole team.

“Care to explain what that was?” Gil said clearly upset. Malcom just shrugged passive aggressively.

“Just making new friends. You know ones who will actually help you when you ask.” He said sitting down at the table.

JT and Dani watched the exchange between the two silently. Thinking it best not to get involved in that deep rooted dispute.

Gil just sighed exasperated at the jab. Knowing that starting this fight with Malcom now would get nowhere. So, he choose to ignore the implication of what he just said and instead focused on something more important. Like him making Elliot uncomfortable.

“Look, as mad as you are with me right now that’s no excuse to harass other employees.” Gil said Malcom gave a conceding sigh.

“I wasn’t harassing him. It really was just a talk and honestly I think the two of us came to some kind of understanding.” Malcom said positively. Not knowing what else to call what he hoped was at least an acquaintance relationship. Gil nodded at that deciding to let it go. No need to dig any deeper in that.

JT and Dani visibly relaxed when the tension between the two dwindled.

“We’ll your new friends got some real skill. He got us everything seemingly from the very first picture taken by this camera along with all the dates and times they were taken.” JT said scrolling through the computer scrolling through the couple thousand you’d expect from a professional photographer. He turned the screen to face all the others so they could also see while he scrolled through.

“Yeah, kids got real skill. I’ve never seen a tech finish a hack this fast of this efficiently. Look there even seems like a place to organize them by date.” Dani said pointing at the top of the screen by a small icon box that read Date next to it.

“Look up the picture within the last year.” Malcom said leaning in even more to see the screen. Gil doing the same.

With that they got back to the case.

* * *

Elliot sighed emotionally tired as he made his way down the street to the nearest coffee shop.

Seeing as he didn't much to do at work right now and none of the IT's were back to work to provide maybe some kind of extra work Elliot went out on a coffee run. He'd need something to keep him awake during the endless hours of staring at a blank screen. He could only talk so much with his alters before they ran out of things to say and people to hack. It didn't help that his alters couldn't tell him too much about there life or ruin their alibi persona they were making for him. He also couldn't just leave though. He was still on duty and the others may need to be here for some reason they couldn't tell him.

That left nothing to do but go out for some coffee.

He didn't know they area well yet seeing as this was a new world so he just went to the nearest Starbucks. He was usually against paying so much for just a drink but they did guarantee quality every time and they're service could be slow giving Elliot an even longer excuse to stay out that boring room. So Elliot went in and order the simplest thing he could find on the menu before leaning up against the wall and flipping through his phone, looking up recent events and popular celebrities of this world. That is until someone caught his attention.

"Elliot?"

Elliot looked over to who called his name and was face with a tall white man with chestnut hair looking at him as if he was some kind of angel or something. All of a sudden Elliot was on the side of Mastermind. While Mastermind was in the place he just was. All of his other alters were now on Mastermind's side as well staring at the man. Mastermind finally spoke uttering out the sentiment that seemed to be on all the other alters minds.

"Tyrell?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are love!

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter is always the shortest.
> 
> Just a little something I'd thought ya'll like to know.
> 
> So I always hate when I really like some of an authors works but they have to many stories in so many fandoms you don't wanna just follow all of them you know?
> 
> So I put all my stories in series of just their fandom. So if you like my stories in only one particular fandom you can just follow that fandom alone instead of all my stories.


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